Slack-adjuster.



W. H. SAUVAGE.

SLACK ADJUSTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.25.1916.

Patented May 29, 1917.

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WILLIAM". H, SAUVAGE, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GOULD COUPLER COMPANY, A OORFORATION OF NEW YORK.

SLACK-ADJUSTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 12%1'7.

Application filed January 25, 1916. Serial No. 74,180.

To all whom it may concern:

Be, it known that 1, WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, citizen of the United States, and resident of Flushing, Long Island, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to slack adjusters for the brake rigging of railway cars, and for convenience will be hereinafter described with relation to its application to a railway truck, although it is of course to be understood that without material modification, it may be applied to other parts of the brake rigging such as the foundation brake rigging associated with the brake cylinder near the middle of the car.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple, practical and reliable automatic slack adjuster mechanism which will be reliable and efficient in use and operation. Another object is to provide a mechanism of the above general character adapted to insure uniform piston travel. A further object is to provide a mechanism of the last above mentioned character with means adapted to insure a positive return of the levers to normal position.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of parts and in the unique relations of the members and in the relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features thereof that they may embody the same by the numerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part of this disclosure, and in such drawings like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of such parts of a truck and brake rigging, together with the slack adjusters applied thereto, as are necessary to fully understand the present invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are-detail views of certain parts.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown the side frames 5 of a two wheel truck of standard make provided with a transverse bolster 6, to one part of which is mounted an adjustable bracket 7 supporting the upper end of a dead lever 8. The lower end of this dead lever is pivotally connected at 10 with a push rod 11, the opposite end of which is in turn pivotally connected at 12 to the lower end of live lever 13 its up per end being connected by means of a pull rod 1% with the brake actuating mechanism.

Each wheel is provided with a brake shoe head 15 and coacting shoes carried by transverse beams 16, each of which is provided with a strut 17 having pivotal connections with, the associated levers. One of these struts preferably that connected with the live lever 13 is provided at its outer end with means adapted permanently to hold the slack taken up by the adjusting mechanism. As herein shown the mechanism comprises a rod 18 connected at one end to one of the brake beams 16 by a friction clamp 20 and having a lost motion engagement 4 with the push rod 11 at the point 21, adapted to permit relative movement in both directions under certain conditions but normally to allow a sliding movement in one direction only an amount equal to the excess or false travel of the brake rigging during the application of the brakes, due primarily to the wear of the brake shoes.

The permanent holding device in the present case comprises a bifurcated or H-shaped member 25 mounted upon the pivotal connection'26 between the live lever 13 and the brake beam strut 17 adapted to project into a shim box 27 formed at the end of the strut 17. WVithin the shim box are a plurality of relatively fiat shims 28 of substantially T-shape construction having their dependmg or lower vertical ends lying between one of the bifurcated ends of the take up mem- 3, thus permanently to take up and hold the excess slack or false travel.

Associated with the pivotal support of the live lever is a substantially U shaped spring 80 adapted to maintain approximately a uniform angle between these parts. The under part of this spring passes below the strut and its side portions are' coiled about the pivot pin 26. A transverse bolt 31 passes through eyes in the upper part of the spring and may have a rotatable sleeve bearing against the side of the live lever to roll freely thereon as the parts move. It will thus be seen that as the angular relation between the strut and the live lever is changed the coils of the spring about the pivot pin 26 will become tensioned and act to return the parts to normal position when the power is released.

The operation of this device is substantially as follows: On application of the brakes, the upper end of the live lever 13 is moved toward the right to carry the brake beam and associated brake shoes into operative position. A reaction ofcourse takes place through the connecting rod 11 to per form a similar function with those members associated with the dead lever 8 at its opposite end. If ,any excess travel takes place over and above that provided for by the lost motion device which insures the proper brake shoe clearance at all times the frictional connection 20 on the under side of the brake beam will slide along the slot in the adjusting rod 18 an amount equal to the excess or false travel. On release of the power the brake shoes will first drop away from the peripheries of the wheels by reason of the lost motion device 21 and as the live lever is returned to normal position under the action of the release spring 30 associated therewith, the take up or holding rod 25 will be withdrawn from the shim box 27 a substantially corresponding amount and permit one or more shims to drop down between the end of the holding rod and the adjacent end wall of the box.

It is thus seen that this construction provides a simple and practical automatic slack adjuster adapted to accomplish among others, all the objects and advantages above set forth.

lVithout further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, live and dead levers, brake beams associated therewith, a push rod connecting the lower ends of said levers, a take up and holding device associated with one of said parts, an adjusting device adapted to temporarily take up the excess slack connecting the brake beam and push rod, and a return spring associated with the live lever.

2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, live and dead levers, a push rod connecting their lower ends, brake beam struts having pivotal connections with said levers, an adjusting rod connected with one of said brake beam struts and having a yielding frictional connection with the push rod, a return spring coiled about the pivotal connection between the lever and its strut, and means associated with said strut for permanently taking up and holding the excess travel due to the wear of the brake.

3. In a slack adjuster, in combination, live and dead levers, a push rod connecting their lower ends, brake beam struts having pivotal connections with said levers, an adjusting rod having a yielding frictional connection with one of said brake beams, a return spring associated with the pivotal connection between the lever and its brake beam, and means associated with one of said parts for permanently taking up and holding the excess travel due to the wear of the brake shoes, said last mentioned means comprising a shim box and shims, and a take up and holding rod within the shim box and having a pivotal connection with the live lever.

4:. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, brake beams having struts forming pivotal supports for said levers, a push rod connecting the lower ends of the levers, means associated with one of said parts for permanently holding the excess travel of the levers, a return spring associated with the pivotal connection between the live lever and its strut, and an adjusting device connected with one of the brake beams.

5. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, brake beams having struts forming supports for said levers, a push rod connecting the lower ends of the levers, means for permanently taking up and holding the excess travel of the levers, a return spring associated with the pivotal connection between the live lever and its strut, and an adjusting device connected with one of the brake beams, said adjusting device having a yielding frictional connection at one end whereby it may yi'eldingly move in either direction, and a spring for holding the parts in frictional. yielding engagement.

6. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a push rod connecting the lower ends of said levers, brake beams having struts connected with the levers, an adjusting rod connected to one brake beam and having a yielding frictional connection therewith, ,and a return spring associated with the pivotal connection of the live lever.

7. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a non-extensible push rod connecting the lower ends of said parts, brake beams having struts connected with the levers, an adjusting rod having a yielding frictional connection with said beam, a return spring associated with the connection of the live lever with its strut, being of general U-shape construction passing under the strut and around the pivotal connection and having its upper ends bearing against the upper side of the live lever.

8. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, brake beams having struts forming pivotal supports for said lever, a non-extensible push rod connecting the lower ends of said levers, means associated with one of the struts for permanently taking up and holding the excess travel of the levers and a relatively flat adjusting rod having a yieldingly frictional clamp device at one end permitting abnormal movement of the adjusting rod therethrough and a lost motion slot for insuring predetermined brake shoe clearance at its other end and a return spring associated with the live lever adapted to restore the parts to full return position on release of the brakes.

9, In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a non-extensible push rod connecting the lower ends of said levers, brake beams associated with the levers, a housing carried by one of the brake beams, a holding rod having a telescopic action with said housing, holding means between the efiective ends of the housing and rod adapted to take up and permanently hold the excess travel, and a return spring acting between the live lever and the housing and having means at one of its points of engagement adapted to prevent binding as the parts move relatively to each other.

10. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a brake beam and strut associated with said lever, a connection between the live lever and its strut permitting angular and longitudinal movement of the live lever relative thereto, and a return spring adjacent the point of connection adapted to restore the parts to predetermined angular relation.

11. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, an intervening connection between their lower ends, a brake beam and strut associated with said live lever, a connection between the live lever and its strut permitting relative angular and longitudinal movment, means adjacent the point of connection adapted to restore the parts to predetermined angular relation, and an adjusting device between the intervening connection and the strut adapted to cause relative movement between the live lever and the strut.

12. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, intervening connections between brake beams associated with each of said levers, a strut between the brake beam and the live lever, said strut being provided with longitudinal slots adapted to permit both angular and longitudinal relative movement between the strut and the live lever, a take-up and holding device associated with the live lever, and a return spring associated with the point of connection between the strut and the live lever.

18. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a brake beam associated therewith, a strut connecting the beam and lever and provided with longitudinal slots to permit angular and longitudinal relative movement of said lever, a permanent take up and holding device associated with said strut, a holding rod between the holding device and the live lever pivotally connected with the live lever, a return spring at the point of connection between the strut and the live lever, and means actuated on application of the brakes to take up the excess travel and register the same on said holding rod on release of the brakes.

1 In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a brake beam associated therewith, a strut connecting the beam and lever, a permanent take up and holding device associated with one end of said strut, a holding rod between the holding device and the live lever pivotally connected with the live lever, and means actuated on application of the brakes to take up the excess travel of the rigging and register the same on said holding rod on release of the brakes, said means comprising a rod having a pivotal connec tion with the strut.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State, of New York this 16th day of December, A. D. 1915.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

